Top 10 San Francisco Chowhound Finds for 2012

What is a find? Maybe it’s a well-known restaurant that Chowhounds give a second look; maybe it’s simply an off-the-beaten-path spot that would never make the cover of Bon Appétit. Whether they required a jacket and tie, a lobster bib, or nothing but a fist full of cash, these were the discoveries that Chowhounds were crowing about in 2012.

1. ATELIER CRENN 3127 Fillmore Street, San Francisco
415-440-0460
As the first and only female chef in the U.S. with two Michelin stars, Dominique Crenn—and her skill—is widely known. But Chowhounds were also keen on the playful inventiveness and sheer gustatory delight of pastry chef Juan Contreras’s desserts, which are available in a six-course dessert tasting menu.

2. THE COMPASS STAR CAFÉ — CLOSED 915 Main Street, Martinez
925-323-2177
A good pastrami is a thing of beauty, and The Compass Star Café, which cures its own meat, gave us one of the best.

3. MAYA’S CAFÉ 2616 Union Avenue, San Jose
408-559-8700
On the hunt for less typical Latin American cuisine, one hound uncovered superb sopa de mondongo (tripe soup) at this Honduran-Mexican restaurant.

5. THE MILL 736 Divisadero Street, San Francisco
415-252-0800
Fans of self-taught zen bread master Josey Baker once needed to raid Four Barrel during his occasional appearances there, or subscribe to his CSA-style service. We picked up loaves Wednesdays and Saturdays at The Mill, which operated out of a tent while construction continued on the building’s interior, due to be completed … any minute now.

8. SATELLITE REPUBLIC — CLOSEDMobile, check Facebook for location
Food linked with regional history has long proven a draw, and Boris Portnoy’s Satellite Republic, a moped-based food business (pictured above), buzzed through the culinary trail of Georgia (the one in the Caucasus), telling Northern Californians a story about dumplings, flatbreads, volcanic mountain ranges, and bracing Black Sea air.

9. TONY’S PIZZA NAPOLETANA 1570 Stockton Street, San Francisco
415-835-9888
To those from St. Louis, it was a taste from home; for natives of other lands, a curiosity worth the nightmarish parking in North Beach. There’s now an SF source for St. Louis–style pizza: a cracker-crisp crust topped by sweet tomato sauce and Provel, a processed cheese